Drink 2009

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Discreetly stowed above Toro Bravo, with windows spying down on Northeast Russell Street and an adjacent parking lot, the Secret Society Lounge fits its name quite nicely. While it’s only a narrow staircase removed from a steady stream of traffic and the occasional Wonder Ballroom crowd, Secret Society seems worlds away from aughties Portland once you’re settled in. Shades of deep walnut and burgundy line the tiny room, filled with well-preserved books and elegant artifacts from the ’40s and ’50s and primary-color paintings of Oregon lumberjacks. It’s hard not to feel as if you’re in a cozy, hidden corner of some vaguely bygone wartime era…or at least stuck in a Decemberists song.What to drink: One of several absinthes, served in the traditional manner, $9-$11.Happy hour: $1 off drinks for library-card holders, 5-7 pm nightly.Entertainment: Live jazz Tuesdays, tarot card readings Wednesdays.